Monday, April 23, 2012

In a couple weeks, folks who receive my author newsletter will get a free eBook copy of the brand-new crime comedy TOO GOOD TO BE TRUMAN. Here are the details:

When unemployed crime reporter Harry Truman gets a note from a local mission thanking him for his generous contribution—to the tune of a half million dollars—he's reasonably certain he had nothing to do with it. But then the IRS comes banging on his door, followed quickly by the FBI, and some very nasty men, and soon Truman knows he's got to figure out who stuck him with this halo if he doesn't want to get fitted with prison stripes—or a harp and wings...

HOW TO GET THIS BOOK FREE: Sign up for my author newsletter and watch in May for the Spring 2012 issue! There will be a link to a secret page for a download for multiple e-readers—including Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iPad, Sony Reader, and many more. (And this is on top of the free book you get for signing up in the first place.)

UPDATE: Last day to sign up for the free eBook is May 11! Planning to send out the newsletter shortly after. (Shooting for May 14.) This is a limited offer, so sign up today!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

We've moved this whole article—and added new content—over to my detective fiction blog The Thrill of it All at its new home. I've got info about author Dashiell Hammett, the real-life detective experience he brought to the character, and how the series broke new ground for detective fiction. And—oh, yeah—a list of all the books. Go check it out here. (Available July 22, 2013.)

Monday, April 16, 2012

First the good news: I want to give you a free novel! I'm putting the finishing touches on my latest book, which is the start of an all-new crime comedy series. (It's still a secret, which is why the "book cover" to your right is actually blank.)

Now the bad news: Our audiobook series is on hiatus. Frankly, there've just been too many demands on my time the past few weeks, and something had to give. If I expect to have seven books available for e-readers this summer, I've got to be choosier about my commitments. Audiobook fans, take heart—I do plan to finish the series. If you want to read the story right now, it's available in my free book First Shot: Crime and Mystery Stories.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Once again, our "5 For Friday" is a guest post I wrote for Spyglass Lane Mysteries. My mystery Burying the Hatchet, starring grumpy old amateur sleuth Earl Walker, involves an impossible crime—so I offer examples of some other great detectives who've solved locked room mysteries, unbreakable alibis, and other impossible crimes. The list includes cases from Adrian Monk, Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, Hercule Poirot, and Dr. Gideon Fell—and also shares the title of the Best Locked Room Mystery of All Time. Read it here: Mission Improbable: 5 Detectives Who Solve Impossible Crimes

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Carrie Evans loves the big city, so why has she taken up residence in her dinky hometown? She has visions of success as a big city journalist, instead she’s the editor of the Melnik Bugle, the smallest of small town weeklies. She wants her life back, but the cute guy who’s repairing her decrepit house seems to think Melnik is a best place on earth.

Museum curator Bonnie Simpson is attacked then nearly run over, then she finds a dead guy in Melnik’s Historical Museum, which is the closest she’s come to having a visitor to the museum all week. Joe, the guy who attacked her might have been diving on her to save her from the car. And the car might have just been an octogenarian with an accelerator/brake problem. But that still leaves a corpse to explain...

Just when Melnik looks set for revitalization, Maddie a troublemaking
doctoral student comes to town doing research that could ruin
everything. When Maddie finds a dead body and is arrested, Tyler Simpson
finds out he’s the court-appointed attorney for the most hated woman in
town.

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Saturday, April 07, 2012

Marvel Comics and The Elks Drug Awareness Program have teamed up for a special comic book and video that helps children understand the dangers of underage drinking. The story, "Hard Choices," which features Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, targets fourth through eighth-graders. The story is created to encourage dialogue between parents, teachers and children by addressing a difficult topic in a fun format.

Of course, Marvel has been doing stuff like this for years: Back in the 1970s, a three-issue arc in Amazing Spider-Man dealt with substance abuse. Created at the request of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, those issues were published without then then-familiar shield "Approved by the Comics Code Authority"—because the CCA ruled against it. (Even though the story was clearly about the dangers of drug abuse.) Does the CCA even exist anymore?

Die Laughing: Funny Crime and Mystery Fiction

SHE'S THE SHERIFF!

A woman with a complicated past returns home to become the small town's new sheriff. Best Mann For The Job is by the writer/artist team of Chris and Erica Well. Read it from the beginning at StudioWell.com. Watch the trailer on YouTube.

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The Thrill of it All

YOU NEVER HAD MONEY TROUBLE LIKE THIS

Too Good to be Truman
He's got to
figure out who stuck him with this halo if he doesn't want to get fitted
with prison stripes—or a harp and wings...
A crime comedy for fans of Fletch
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About Me

I'm a novelist and media editor. My latest fiction includes the crime comedy Too Good to be Truman and the traditional whodunit trilogy The Earl Walker Mysteries: Nursing a Grudge, Burying the Hatchet and Knocking 'Em Dead (Spyglass Lane Mysteries).